Graham Monkman

The ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’ achieved a definitive standard of excellence in TV entertainment that was never surpassed during its record breaking run on BBC TV and in theatres in London, all over Britain, and throughout Australia and New Zealand. Eleanor Pritchard’s comprehensively researched and beautifully written history of this show business phenomenon, ‘Minstrel Magic’,’ makes stimulating and rewarding reading. Like the musicians and singers she writes about, Eleanor’s book is clearly a labour of love - much like the love that ran through the George Mitchell Choirs – love for the songs, love for the spectacular productions, love for the group’s immaculate vocal arrangements, and love for their friendly, supportive and very talented leader, George Mitchell himself. As a pianist in hotels and piano bars, I built up a big repertoire of popular songs, recognising that everybody has a favourite song, and the more you know the more customers you will please. But my playlist could never compare with the one George compiled for the ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’. I don’t know how he became aware of them all and where he found the sheet music, which he must have needed to prepare the vocal parts. And that was still not all – he then had to put them all together for the TV and stage shows. One of the TV show’s producers, Ernest Maxin believed that the way he was able to segue effortlessly from one song to the next was ‘pure genius’. Indeed it was. George’s genius was combined with that of many other outstanding artists on the show – great set designers like Stanley Dorfman, musical arrangers of the calibre of Alan Bristow, master choreographers like Roy Gunson, fabulous dancing girls, terrific solo vocalists, and the cream of British swing musicians in the orchestra, including world class trumpeters like Kenny Baker, Stan Roderick and Freddy Clayton. No wonder it achieved audience figures of 21 million, won a Golden Globe at Montreux, and was sold to over 30 countries. And the BBC’s reaction? True to form, they pulled the plug, bowing to accusations of racism from the new generation of politically correct fanatics. The ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’ entertained a world wide audience of millions between 1958 and 1978. A BBC writer, Kate Broome, stated ‘that an innocently-intentioned show could, in just a generation, become such a screen pariah is one of the most extraordinary episodes in television history.’ When it won a Golden Rose at Montreux in 1961, it was regarded as the best light entertainment production in the world, It has never been surpassed - and it’s unlikely it ever will be. In its day, it could draw upon the great song writing that spanned the whole of the twentieth century. Songs as good as the beautifully crafted and engaging standards which George Mitchell arranged to such perfection, are simply not around in the twenty first. Eleanor Pritchard’s classic volume is a tribute to the dazzling combination of mega talent that was the ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’ It is also a mine of information on British show business between 1950 and 1980, not to mention heaps of detail on British radio and television during the same years. It is indeed a magic read.

While there has never been a shortage of works telling us what human sexual behaviour should be, there are much fewer which document what it is. If you agree, you will welcome this absorbing and well researched book. With an imaginary dinner party as a backdrop – ‘Kinky History’ introduces us to the interesting sex lives of literary giants like James Joyce, C S Lewis and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, brilliant scientific thinkers like Albert Einstein, not to mention psychologists of the eminence of Richard von Krafft Ebbing and Sigmund Freud. The book also challenges many of the weird hang ups about sex which have brought fear, anxiety and repression to so many people. They include branding masturbation as ‘self abuse’, equating sex with ‘sin’, positioning a predilection for bodily fetishes and clothing that excites as ‘abnormal’, and same sex relationships as evil. As the title implies “Kinky History’ takes us through sexual and erotic behaviour through the ages, and it makes fascinating reading. It shows the reality of the Kinsey Report’s assertion that reacting erotically to any kind of stimulus is basic in the human species, and also sexologist, Henry Havelock Ellis’s awareness that the number of objects or situations that can turn people on is limitless - thereby making a nonsense of trying to define pornography. Our love affair with pornography is part of a wide spectrum of sexual behaviour described in ‘Kinky History’- which also embraces bisexuality, voyeurism, transvestism, fantasies, sex toys, foot fetishism, clothing, vibrators, dildos, flagellation, BDSM, and LBGTQIA. If your own erotic tastes are causing you anxiety, ‘Kinky History’ will reassure you that you are not alone – there are as many sex patterns as there are individuals, and there always have been. Esme James approaches her subject with down to earth humour, sensitivity and good taste –and she is not frightened to refer to the four letter words that we all use, but claim we don’t. ‘Kinky History’ is such a refreshing contrast to the heavy works of respected past influencers like Krafft Ebbing, who claimed that any sexual activity not directed towards procreation was a ‘perversion’. It is backed by comprehensive research within Australia,conducted by Esme’s mum - ace mathematician and statistician Dr Susan James. If you seek to improve your awareness of the formerly taboo subject of sex, you will not find a more sensitive, refreshingly honest and valuable book than this one.

If you are an art lover with a particular preference for the Impressionist period in France at the end of the 19th century, you will enjoy this book. You will enjoy it even more if your interest in art extends to the lives of great painters and the process of artistic creation, including the emotional toll it frequently takes on the artist. His Masterpiece, or L’Oeuvre as it is known in France, is set in Paris during the turbulent years of the Impressionist period, which extended from the early 1870’s until the end of the century. The Impressionist movement created vitriolic criticism from the French artistic establishment and was misunderstood by the art loving public who only appreciated traditional subjects and techniques. Some of the greatest Impressionist painters, and other painters influenced by the movement, were never recognised in their lifetime - and it was to prove a significant factor in their early demise. Van Gogh committed suicide at the early age of 37, while Paul Gauguin attempted suicide and eventually died ill and penniless in the south seas at the age of 54. Another painter who was never appreciated in his lifetime was Paul Cezanne, later widely regarded as the father of modern art, and it was his life which inspired the author of His Masterpiece - Emile Zola.It is believed the book ended Cezanne’s lengthy friendship with Zola, which dated back to their childhood when both lived in Aix-en-Provence in Southern France. His Masterpiece is the story of Claude Lantier - a dedicated and highly original artist who never fulfills his great potential. Cezanne clearly believed that the character was based on his own failure as an artist, and no correspondence exists between the two after a letter from Cezanne to Zola, merely thanking him for sending the novel, which chronicles Lantier’s long an unsuccessful battle to complete what he believes will be his masterpiece. In the light of his frustration and disappointment he ultimately hangs himself in the scaffolding in his studio. Zola was a great supporter of the Impressionist school and he based some of his other characters on artists he knew as well as Cezanne – including Manet and Monet. The book is a stimulating record of the electrifying creative environment of the Impressionist and post Impressionist years and the bohemian art world of Paris at the time. It is a fine work full of Zola’s customary perceptive insights into human motivation and behaviour, particularly in the field of the creative arts. It vividly portrays an artist’s agony when ambition, achievement and recognition remain unfulfilled. His Masterpiece is a poignant, sensitive and insightful work and undoubtedly a very rewarding read.

The first book I read by Jeffrey Archer was his gripping political best seller ‘First Among Equals’. The realism it exuded would have come from his extensive experience in politics – as an MP, as deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, and as a long serving adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Similarly, I’m sure his time in Belmarsh Gaol (for perjury) must have given him plenty of factual background for “A Prisoner of Birth’. In ‘A Prisoner of Birth’, four youthful high fliers – an up and coming barrister, a popular TV actor, an aristocrat and an estate agent – start a fight in a pub, with two boys and a girl from more down to earth backgrounds. One of them is killed by the barrister, who subsequently joins forces with his three brutal and arrogant friends as prosecution witnesses to blame his death on the third boy, Danny - who is subsequently given a 22 year sentence in, you guessed it, Belmarsh Gaol. Some might argue that the social and professional standing of the murderers make the plot highly improbable. But if I remember correctly, during the 80’s, Mrs Thatcher’s City of London ‘Yuppies’ were responsible for some shocking incidences of violent crime. And in the 90’s, two old Etonians received lengthy jail sentences for what was described in court as a ‘bold, well researched, meticulously executed fraud.’ As usual, as upper class criminals they thought themselves far too clever to be caught – as did the four in ‘A Prisoner of Birth’. It’s a long time since I read the book, but I seem to remember Jeffrey Archer contrasted vividly the spectacular career of the barrister, Simon Craig, with the grim future that awaited him in gaol if he was convicted – which could well include being the victim of gang rape by other prisoners. In ‘A Prisoner of Birth’ Jeffrey’s exceptional story telling skills are as a strong as ever. With the combined clout of four crafty and ruthless professionals as prosecution witnesses, what chance does Danny stand? Like all Jeffrey Archer stories, the ending is unexpected.

Somerset Maugham’s writing is a delight – elegant, insightful, witty, and uncomplicated. Unlike so much of today’s literary output, you don’t need to read his work with a dictionary by your side. His collections of short stories exude human interest and fascinating characters , particularly those which draw on his travels within the British Empire in its twilight years in the 1920’s and 30’s. His novels are similarly absorbing, some of them showing a strong interest in art and artists. The Moon And Sixpence, written in 1919, was inspired by the life of the volatile and prolific French artist Paul Gauguin. Like Gauguin, the central character in Maugham’s book – Charles Strickland - is also a stockbroker who quits a business career in his 40’s to become an artist full time. And once more following in the footsteps of Gauguin, Charles Strickland leaves his wife and family - and ends up in Tahiti, where he creates masterpieces which eventually sell for unbelievable prices after his death. But that’s as far as the likeness goes. Strickland walks out on his family for ever , leaving them penniless and not caring if he ever sees them again. He is cold, unemotional, self centred and arrogant - totally obsessed with painting and what he believes to be his formidable talent. Gauguin on the other hand, loved his wife and children and hoped they would accompany him on his odyssey to the South Seas. He believed that Tahiti would give his family a better lifestyle, as well as giving him the creative stimulus he felt he lacked in France. His Danish wife, Mette, vigorously opposed the idea. From his many letters to her, it seems he never gave up on his family ultimately joining him during both of his periods in Tahiti between 1891 and 1895 and from 1897 to 2003. He supported them financially when he could, through the sales of his paintings in France. In The Moon And Sixpence, the narrator of the novel is asked by Mrs Strickland to go over to Paris – Strickland’s first port of call to further his artistic ambitions – to see if he can determine her husband’s motives for leaving his family. From that encounter, it is clear that Strickland will never return to his family, let alone support them. His only focus is on painting, and he cares nothing for the future of his offspring or what others may think of him . He is also indifferent about money, fame, luxuries or any other material benefits. Maugham has created a very unusual character – an uncompromising idealist with an iron will and a level of commitment which overtakes and eclipses everything else in his life. Such a person may well not exist - and also If Strickland was that good, why did he wait until middle age to start painting? After all, Gauguin was a ‘Sunday painter’ for many years before becoming an artist full time. And would a comfortably off stockbroker give it all up to become a starving artist – living in squalid hostels for sailors in Marseilles, participating in waterfront brawls, and finally working his passage to Tahiti as a stoker? I find it all a bit unlikely, but it’s nevertheless an imaginative story by a great story teller. And the ending is one other area in which Strickland’s life really does parallel that of Paul Gauguin. It shows that an indulgent and isolated existence in the pursuit of an impossible dream can be dangerous. Gauguin died young from Syphilis - in Maugham’s book, Strickland falls victim to leprosy. Without doubt, The Moon And Sixpence is one to keep, and one you will never tire of reading again.

This science fiction classic was written long before such stories appeared extensively on film, resulting in special effects frequently overshadowing content and plots. Works like ‘The War of The Worlds’, which was first published in 1897,offered a massive stimulus to the reader’s own imagination, not to mention the feeling that the events in the book could well become reality in the future. Mars had always been considered the most likely planet in the solar system to support life, and Martians were consequently selected by author H G Wells as the invaders of the earth, driven by diminishing resources on their own planet. The Martian invaders – described by Wells as ‘crippled, intense, inhuman, and monstrous’ - are fired into space in cylinders and ultimately land on earth like meteorites, before transforming into formidable fighting machines elevated on grotesque moving tripods. What makes ‘The War of the Worlds’ particularly realistic is that it is set in England at the time, not in the future. The Martians landing, and subsequent murderous and blood sucking rampage amongst the population, takes place in familiar countryside west of London, and within well known towns and suburbs including Woking, Weybridge, Ottershaw, Leatherhead, Sheen, Walton, Byfleet, Shepperton and Chertsey – before finally advancing to London. The giant spider like machines burn and destroy everything in their path with a formidable heat ray and poisonous black smoke, which leaves beautiful pine forested countryside a blackened wilderness. The Martians also import a red weed which chokes rivers and ends up obliterating Thames bridges. You can visualise it all happening through Wells’ brilliantly descriptive writing. It looks like the end of the world and civilisation as we know it, until the Martians are wiped out due to their lack of immunity to earthly germs. A book which has never been out of print, ‘The War of the Worlds’ has inspired scores of films, TV series and radio adaptations – one of which in America proved sufficiently life like to generate public panic. And all without any special effects!

Michelle Obama’s memoirs ‘Becoming’ are a fascinating account of life at the White House - from the perspective of the top man’s wife. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Michelle was born and brought up within a loving family of modest means, on the South Side of Chicago. She became a corporate lawyer in a blue chip legal practice, Sidley and Austin, where she met Barack Obama. Being both black and a woman, her education and impressive career development make particularly poignant reading. She ultimately swapped a highly paid role in corporate law for what she believed to be a more challenging and rewarding career path, starting with a role in the Chicago Mayor’s office – where she found City Hall to have a ‘noisy, gritty immediacy that I never felt at Sidley’. The move cost her 50% of her salary in the law firm. Other roles in the public sector followed, including at the University of Chicago, and the University of Chicago Medical Centre. She also founded the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, a non-profit organisation aimed at preparing young people for a career in public service. Michelle Obama’s book deals only incidentally with politics and world leaders. She left the politics mainly to her husband, dealing instead with the important social issues she championed outside the arena of world affairs. Some of the domestic problems she addressed included the population's unhealthy eating habits and the consequential problems of childhood obesity, homelessness, poverty, lack of exercise - and the difficulties of the families of men and women serving in the military. She launched education initiatives, with a particular emphasis on improving opportunities for girls, and campaigned against violence after living through a series of senseless mass shootings – including the tragic massacre of children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The book - which is beautifully written and thankfully devoid of the pretentious words so often found in most modern autobiographies - vividly describes the work/life balance she tried to achieve while juggling the demands of life as America’s First Lady with the demands of bringing up two young children. The reader is left with no illusions about what life is like when every move you make is watched over by secret service agents. Michelle provided her husband with titanic support during the many dramatic and disturbing events which he had to deal with - the global financial crisis, the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, the rise of Isis and global terrorism, environmental disasters like the BP Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and a frightening increase in violent and gun related crime. But she was an even greater tower of strength for him in home affairs, particularly as she was, in her own words, a ‘child of the mainstream.’ The President asked her advice on campaign slogans and concepts, knowing that she maintained an ongoing awareness of popular culture – reading 'People' magazine and watching Oprah Winfrey and Ellen De Generes far more often than tuning in to' Meet The Press' or 'Face The Nation'. ‘Becoming’ is a wonderful story of a woman blessed with intelligence, resilience, sensitivity, exemplary human skills, determination, energy and courage – qualities which took her from a modest home in Chicago to the grandeur of the White House. She had a historical role as the nation’s first black ‘first lady’ and she undertook it with grace and elegance, In the light of today's angry and divisive environment in America, one can only wish she and her husband were still in the White House 'Becoming' is an absorbing and thought provoking book -no library should be without it.